Chapter 75 Burn the Quiet Down
Chapter 75 Burn the Quiet Down
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What Bastian had done back then was beyond disgusting. It wasn’t just that he lied and called a freebie a New Year’s gift, he actually used that so–called “gift” to guilt Azalea into taking the blame.
And it hadn’t ended there. When Ivy flew into a rage and beat Azalea before locking her in the basement “to reflect,” Bastian’s only concern had been comforting Sydney.
While Sydney was being paraded around by Wesley and Ivy, praised to the skies, Azalea sat freezing in that pitch–black basement, utterly forgotten. If Harper hadn’t messaged Ivy in the middle of the night, it might’ve been the next morning before anyone even remembered she was down there.
Bastian had hurt her far more than he’d ever admitted to himself.
All he remembered saying were a few half–hearted words of comfort. If Azalea hadn’t dragged it out into the light, he would’ve kept it buried, tucked away in some dusty corner of his conscience.
Because the truth was, he’d never really cared. All he’d wanted was for Azalea to take the hit so Sydney wouldn’t get blamed by Ivy. It never once crossed his mind what Ivy might do to her. Especially since Ivy already despised her.
Now, a sharp, vice–like pain clutched at his chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Azalea, I
I’m sorry.” The words felt small, weightless..
Azalea let out a short, mocking laugh. “Didn’t you say you wanted to make amends, Bastian? That you wanted to help me? So what’s a few people and some resources? If you mean it, give me the entire Anexis Club. You told me, when you started that club, you named it Anexis so that when the team stood at the top, I’d be able to look up and find my way back. So let me have it.”
Bastian’s face went pale. Anexis was his life’s work, and he had poured years into building it. Lately, he’d even leveraged the star power of the team to grow a whole network of businesses. How could he possibly give it away?
“What? Can’t bear to part with it? Then shut up. Take your fake concern and get the hell out of my sight.” Azalea’s expression turned icy. She knew he’d never say yes.
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Chapter 75 Burn the Quiet Down
That was the point.
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But back then, she had been willing to give up everything for the Larks.
And she had given it all up. What she got in return was almost losing her life.
Azalea turned to leave. Behind her, Bastian reached out, trying to grab her.
The tips of his fingers had just brushed her sleeve when, all of a sudden, everything went black for him. His tall figure collapsed straight to the ground.
Startled. Azalea turned. Bastian was unconscious, his face flushed an alarming shade of red.
She hovered, then placed a hand on his forehead. He had a fever?
She blinked, a little surprised no one had even noticed he was burning up.
Two short, humorless laughs slipped from her lips. Her eyes dropped to his crumpled form for a moment, then she drew back her foot and kicked him. “Serves you right.”
And just like that, she walked off without looking back.
To live or die, what did it matter to her?
Online, things had started to calm down under the Larks‘ heavy–handed PR pressure. The trending searches were changing by the hour, and the whole “sisters at war” drama was quickly fading from the public’s mind.
But at Draywick High School, Azalea still hadn’t been cleared to return to class.
She’d already asked her homeroom teacher, who replied with the usual line, “We’re still waiting on the principal’s response.” Yeah right. This wasn’t about Ozzie, the Larks who hadn’t given the green light. And Ozzie, predictably spineless, was just stalling until he got permission from above.
Azalea had no respect for Ozzie anyway. He was just another useless figurehead clinging to his position, doing absolutely nothing.
Back in her first year at Draywick High School, a female student had jumped to her death. Azalea couldn’t quite remember her name, but it had been a bullying
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Chapter 75 Burn the Quiet Down
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case. The girl had been pushed too far by one of the school’s well–known cliques. The incident caused an uproar at the time, but Ozzie still hadn’t taken any action against the bullies.
Besides the fact that a few of those girls came from influential families, they were also Sydney’s loyal lapdogs. With Sydney pulling strings and the Larks pressuring from above, the whole situation was swept under the rug.
Then Azalea transferred in, and that same group made her their new target. The only difference was, at that time, she still had some kind of connection to the Larks, so she didn’t end up like that poor girl.
Azalea’s eyes shifted slightly. If that was the case, maybe it was time Draywick High got itself a new principal.
She flipped open her brand–new laptop and logged into the International Mathematics Championship website.
This year’s championship was being held in Draywick, both the preliminaries and the finals. There were two ways to register: through school nominations or the open preliminaries. The preliminaries were designed for independent applicants. The top ten scorers from that round would join the school–nominated candidates in the finals.
The competition didn’t have an age restriction, but ever since it began, almost all of the winners had been top–tier college math majors. If a high schooler could break that streak and win a prize, it would definitely draw national attention from the education world. And when that happened, she could finally bring Ozzie’s incompetence into the spotlight.
Even if he hated her, he’d have no choice but to think twice.
She filled out the form and hit submit. She’d missed two years of classes while studying art, but maybe because of her natural sensitivity to numbers, she’d always loved math. And even during those two years, she’d never stopped exploring it on
her own.
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